2020
by Juliet Winters
Summary: Hindsight is always 20/20...a teacher at Will-O'-Wisp looks back at the adventure she took as a teenager that changed everything. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except Cookie, to an extent.**

**A/N: I'm still getting used to the controls on here, so any help would be appreciated. Also, please r&r! (:**

_I__ stand at the front of the room, staring at the desk. I have never been behind it before, but still I can feel her presence, here of all places. It doesn't matter how many years pass, this classroom will always be hers'._

_The five A.M. bell rings. I sigh, sinking down into the chair. I am shaking, even though the kids are not due to come to class for another hour. The irony of all this suddenly dawns on me. I have faced some of the worst things this universe can throw at me, yet…the idea of teaching children terrifies me to the very core of my being._

_I try to tell myself that it's impossible-they can't know who I am. It's been ten years. They couldn't know._

_But their parents…their parents must. Their parents were my classmates, for God's sake. They must have told them something about me. About us. They will know who their new teacher is, and condemn me for what I am, for the mistakes I made when I was their age._

_By the time I've wandered to the window, I'm nearly ready to bolt, to cut and run. Biscotti will forgive me for leaving. I'm not cut out for this._

_Instead, I focus on my reflection, barely visible in the glass due to the coming dawn. I do not look any different than I did then. Sure, my eyes may now have dark circles beneath them, with wrinkle lines pulling them down at the edges. Yes, I may be a few inches taller and neither my eyebrows nor a chunk of hair grew back the right way after a not-so-accidental accident. I still wear my brown tank top and sweatpants. I still am more likely than not to be barefoot, as I am now. I still wear what's left of my hair in a ponytail._

_But not even I can place what is truly different between the girl I was and the woman who stares back at me now._

"_Excuse me, are you miss…" The voice makes me jump. I have been so caught up in my thoughts that I never heard the girl coming._

"_Doe," I fill in my last name to the end of her sentence on instinct. "Can I he-"_

_My mouth dries out when I turn to see her. She can easily be my daughter-no, my twin, were I still fifteen. The only difference is that she actually wears the uniform I had scorned back then. Even our eyes, the darkest purple, are the same._

"_Classes don't start until six," I change my response, immediately shutting down. It doesn't matter if she looks like me, she isn't me, and I cannot get attached. "You shouldn't be here."_

"_I-I know. I'm sorry," She looks at the ground and scuffs her shoes. "I'm always awake before the other students. I…um…wanted to-to speak with you."_

_This makes both my heart plummet and my temper flare at the same time. She is nothing like me. Nothing at all._

"_What about?" I already know the answer as I sit down in the student's desk in the middle of the room, the one I know all too well. My name is still carved into the edge nearest me._

_The nervous little wisp of a girl takes a seat as well, although she stays ramrod straight. "I…I wanted to know if I you were who I thought you were."_

_I raise an eyebrow at her, secretly fighting down nausea. _She knows, she knows, she knows, she knows_…my mind chants. "And who do you think I am?"_

_In response, she hands a yearbook to me, and I opened it to a sticky-noted page. When I see the old photo, I drop the book. On the floor, it still is open to that one page, taunting me._

_It was a shot I could remember very well. The photo showcased me, in my typical tank top and short shorts, at the end of a race. Pico and Chai were parading around with my trophy like they had won. Mokka had me up on his shoulders; Lassi was clinging to one of my hands like she was trying to flip me off over his head. She was frozen on the film in mid-jump. Sorbet was on my other side, trying to hand me a bottle of water, as maybe the only sane person in the photo-but her smile, immortalized forever inside my mind, outlives every other memory I have of her, and it will be the Sorbet that I remember when I'm old and senile._

_And of course. Miss Madeleine. She stands off to one side behind us, smiling like I was her own daughter, like we were her own children, just like I remember her. She is why I choke up and nearly vomit._

_Because as perfect as this photo is, this is the way I'll remember us. All seven of us. This is the way I want to remember us. I will not remember the times Pico nearly set everything we worked for on fire, or the times that Sorbet's smile left her forever, or the times that Chai descended into hysterics because he couldn't take it, or the times Lassi's plans almost got us all killed, or the times Mokka's past came to collect on its debts. And I will not, _will not_, remember Miss Madeleine the way she was on…in that place that still haunts my nightmares._

_I look up to see if the girl is still sitting there. She isn't. I'm glad, because I can feel my past pulling at the back of my mind, demanding the attention it's been denied. So I put my head down on the desk and let the memories (the ones that I do not want to remember, but I know I always will) engulf me._

* * *

><p>T E N Y E A R S A G O<p>

It is still dark outside when I wake. Sorbet lays next to me, although I can't remember when she came and got in bed with me. It's a twin size, but I don't mind. She needs someone, now more than ever, with everything that's going on in her life.

I'm already hanging half-way off the side, and all of the covers are piled up around her, so it's easy enough to get up without waking her. I grab my jacket off the back of the chair and slip out the door. I only look back once to see if Sorbet will ask me what's going on. She doesn't even move.

I have long since stopped wonder what people think of me when I come jogging out onto the street into town through the school's main gates. A fifteen year old girl, made out of nothing but lean muscle, not wearing the robes but in her pajamas, running alone by herself at some ungodly hour. At least the reputation of Will-O'-Wisp keeps those who would from kidnapping me.

I stop to yawn, leaning on a park bench. As much as I love this time, it makes me sleepy for my classes. Miss Madeleine is usually pretty lenient about it, partly because she doesn't pay attention either. After all, she's the one who brought me here; the identity card tapping against my hip when I move, the card that bears my ridiculous name, makes me all too aware of who I have to thank.

* * *

><p>The story goes that she found me as a baby somewhere. The 'where' always changes every time I hear it; sometimes, I was just lying out on the street. Sometimes my parents (whoever the hell they are) left me on the steps of the school. Sometimes I was in the garbage pile outside of her favorite coffee shop. No matter where she found me, she always did. For that, I'm eternally grateful.<p>

It sounds good at first. Except, then it goes on. When she showed the wrapped up baby to principal Biscotti, she demanded him to take me on as a charity case. He said that he'd only do so if I came with a name. Something about the last charity case ending with enigmas and plains of darkness and night-birds and some other stuff I don't even remember.

Regardless of that, this is how my unfortunate name came about.

Cookie Doe.

Since apparently it was a fad here on Kovomaka to name your kid after food, she got the on-the-spot idea of 'Cookie'. My last name she meant to be a pun on 'Jane Doe'. I've never made any claims that Miss Madeleine wasn't always absent-minded. Needless to say, I've grown up tough.

Well, it worked. Biscotti either bought it or just took pity and didn't want to release me back out into the world with that kind of a name, but he let me into the school. I was raised here, in the nursery that I'm still trying to figure out why we have.

So, there you go. That's the origin of yours truly, Miss Cookie Doe.

* * *

><p>I'm half-asleep on my desk as the voices of my classmates fade in and out of my hearing. There are four that are most prominent, those of the ones closest to me-Pico, Sorbet, Mokka, and Chai. I sort of listen their conversation with an unsettling feeling of déjà vu. We say the same things every day, idle speculation about why Miss Madeleine was late (my personal theory was that she cared about class just as much as I did).<p>

"Hey, Cookie!" Pico shakes me. I lift my head up only to glare at him. Used to it by now, he just keeps on talking. "Where's Miss Madeleine? Class shoulda started by now. Do you think something happened to her?"

"Calm down, she's just late," Sorbet steals words right out of my mouth. I make some kind of noise of gratitude at her. "It happens all the time. She's probably just finishing up her lesson plan. It's nothing to get so worked up about."

I don't think he's worked up, personally. But Sorbet and I tend to have…different opinions on the little fire mage. I call him her pet, she calls him my punching bag.

"What is this, the 30th time this year? When's someone going to give her a tardy slip, that's what I want to know!" Chai, the dear little thirteen year old salamander-morph he is, pouts at the desk diagonal to me. I give up on sleeping.

Before Sorbet can launch into a lecture about anger control or some other kind of crap I don't pay attention to, Lassi starts jumping from her position at the door.

"I see her! She's coming! Quick, everyone, get back in your seats!" She exclaims, bolting to her chair ahead of me, her rabbit ears streaming behind her. Lassi makes to her place seconds before Miss Madeleine literally bursts into the room. The door bangs against the wall, but she doesn't stop running until she trips and nearly falls flat on her face. She catches herself on her desk, though, and turns to face us, her typical smile plastered on.

"Good morning, apprentices!" Miss Madeleine doesn't have a shrill voice, per say, but it is a voice that carries and quickly silences a room of high schoolers. "I trust you were all quietly studying your spell books while you were waiting for me?"

I think that the marks on my face from my jacket sleeve speak for themselves.

"Miss Madeleine, you must be aware you are late for class. Again!" Mokka scolds. On an impulse, I throw a paper ball at him. He needs to stop being such a teacher. Actually, he needs to stop being such a robot.

"Yeah, what's up with that? You're late all the time, but when I forget my homework, who gets detention? Me!" Pico takes his cue to start talking. "If I get held back again this year, I'm holding you personally responsible!"

"Yeah!" I echo. He and I high-five, while Sorbet sends us her best 'I-do-not-approve' glare.

Miss Madeleine only laughs. "I'm sorry, my little students! I'll never be late again, I promise!"

We are all skeptical. Miss Madeleine will stop being late when she dies. Even then, no guarantees she'll get to her funeral on time.

* * *

><p>"What did you all set on fire now?" Sorbet pounces as soon as Pico, Chai, and I walk out of detention.<p>

"Nothing!" I go into immediate denial. We haven't set anything on fire this time. We just forgot to turn in a group project. Well, more of a me-and-Pico-don't-do-our-work-and-drag-Chai-in project.

It is about this point that we stumble on Lassi and Mokka pressed up against the door to the principal's door, clearly eavesdropping. Sorbet sighs, ready to go into mom mode again, but Lassi presses a finger to her lips and pulls us all against the door. I have no arguments as to why we shouldn't listen in, especially when I hear who is speaking.

"_Miss Madeleine, you are the only one that I can trust with this delicate matter," _Principal Biscotti is the first person I hear. _"I'm afraid there's simply no other way. Leave your students in my care. We will await your return."_

I think my heart falls into my stomach and my stomach falls into my feet.

"_But to the wind planet? Really? Are you sure this is a good idea?" _Miss Madeleine responds, her voice dropping down to a whisper. I have to strain to hear now, and the others behind me start pushing.

"_Quite sure, Miss Madeleine. I need your help in dealing with a very troublesome wizard on Puffoon," _Biscotti continues with his same matter-of-fact tone. For some reason, it makes me mad. _"Is that so?" _Miss Madeleine even sounds curious now. I can literally feel my temper boiling. I jerk back, elbowing Chai in the stomach. I don't even care.

"_Indeed. He was once a student of yours, in fact. His name is Kale, although he calls himself Master Kale now," _Biscotti explains. Not even the fact that the "big bad" is named after a cabbage can get rid of the gnawing feeling in my stomach.

"_My sources tell me that he has banded with a crew of villainous space pirates, who do his dirty work across the solar system. I'm sure you remember him. He seemed a most promising pupil, but now I'm sad to say he's gone somewhat astray…it may come to blows, and I pray you defend yourself if it does." _Biscotti suddenly sounds anxious. It's about time.

"_Kale? With the scruffy hair?" _Miss Madeleine is utterly shocked. _"But he was such a sensitive boy. What happened? I can't imagine him being any trouble!"_

Suddenly, Chai pushed me in retaliation for my earlier collision with his ribcage. Unfortunately, that's the last straw for our unstable pile; the door crashes open. We don't waste a moment standing still and looking dumb; instead, we run straight across the room to Biscotti and Miss Madeleine.

"Miss Madeleine! It's not true, is it?" Lassi's lower lip quivers dangerously. "You're not really going to Puffoon! But why? You can't leave us!" "Teacher! We were listening at the door. We heard everything you discussed." Mokka had not yet learned that there were some things you just didn't say. "You have to go to Puffoon and fight pirates and wizards? This sounds highly alarming."

"Students, please!" Miss Madeleine tries to get order again. "This conversation was not meant for your inquisitive ears."

"All that talk of other planets…" Sorbet interrupts. I can't tell if she's trying to get more knowledge for herself, or just trying to figure out what's going on. "Are you honestly planning on going into space?"

"Please, I'll be fine," Miss Madeleine tries to smile. It doesn't work. "You should be more worried about your tome reports. "They're due next week!"

Somewhere, through the shock, I realize I should probably start on that project.

* * *

><p>Nearly a week later, the day before our reports are due, Miss Madeleine calls us all to the meditation room. We don't waste time talking; I go straight up to her, tapping on her shoulder. She turns around, almost surprised to see us.<p>

"Have you been here long, Cookie?" She asks. I almost answer, but the others run up behind me then, and Sorbet thwacks me in the back. Miss Madeleine continues, unaware. "Good, you're all here."

"Miss Madeleine, what's going on?" Chai asks. She focuses on all of us.

"The universe can be a very dodgy place, so it's high time for me to teach you how to defend yourselves," Miss Madeleine suddenly gets serious. "But these skills are designed for extreme circumstances."

I start smiling like an idiot. I'm a scrapper; extreme circumstances are right up my alley.

"That sounds awesome…and dangerous!" Pico speaks my thoughts aloud, probably without even knowing it.

"Waiit, does this mean you're taking us with you to Puffoon?" Lassi squeals. I hadn't even thought about that.

"Ahh…no, children. I'll be traveling to the wind planet alone. I'm afraid I don't have time to explain why that is, so please be understanding," Miss Madeleine seems like she regrets this fact. She covers up quickly, though. "Cookie, step forward."

* * *

><p>It is several hours and plenty of explosions later when we all collapse to the floor, exhausted. Only Miss Madeleine still stands.<p>

"Had enough?" She smiles. I nod. "Good. We'll end your lessons for today. You're all set for galactic fun!"

"Are you serious? Are we going into space, too?" Usually, Sorbet can tell when things are a joke. I guess she's still frazzled.

"So, we're all going into space? Cool!" Chai is the next to be dragged in. I sigh.

"No, I'll be going alone. Yes, quite alone," Miss Madeleine repeats. Her face darkens. "Yet, I've got a…strange, foreshadowy feeling. If anything happens to me, I want you all to be able to take care of yourselves."

"What could happen to you? You're Miss Madeleine," Even Mokka is surprised by her mood change. "You know, well, everything."

"Well, I don't know. Just a weird feeling, I guess. I don't want to alarm you," Miss Madeleine again attempts a smile.

_Too late, _I want to tell I feel it too. A strange feeling that nothing will ever be the same.

"But the important thing is this: you all have great power. Believe in it," Miss Madeleine orders. It isn't a statement, it is an order. The bad feeling inside of me wells up. I am struck by a terrifying idea I shove to the back of my mind. We pick ourselves up off the floor and leave.

* * *

><p>The next day, Miss Madeleine is gone. Professor Pistachio takes over her class, which is my only hint things are different. I walk into class and nearly have a heart attack when he's standing there. He teaches my afternoon class. It's not a good relationship.<p>

Nervous, I take my seat, and thwack Pico's arm.

"Hey, where's Miss Madeleine? And what's grumpy pants doing here?" I hiss. He shrugs. The bell rings, cutting off his answer. Pistachio begins to pace.

"So, students, I understand you have a tome report due today," He announces. My head shoots up. Somehow, I'd forgotten all about it. Of course, Pistachio catches my face. "Miss Doe, that's an interesting look. How about I collect yours first?"

I swear silently. "Well, you see Professor, I…forgot it in my dorm room."

He nods, as if he believes me. "Well then. Who is your roommate again, Miss Doe?"

"Sorbet," I sigh, digging my nails into my palm. Sorbet turns around. I stare at her, hoping she gets the message.

"Of course. Miss Mintblue," Pistachio turns to her. "Will you be so kind as to retrieve Miss Doe's paper from your room?"

Sorbet stammers out a response, jumps up, and runs from the room. I cross my fingers under the desk, hoping she won't be such a goody-goody as she usually is and give me a copy of her paper. Unfortunately, she returns several minutes later, empty handed.

"I-I couldn't find it, s-sir…" She whispers. Pistachio looks back at me, an evil look in his eyes.

"Of course you couldn't," He sneers. "Miss Mintblue, do you know where you will find Miss Doe after class today?"

"H-here, sir?"

"Very good, Miss Mintblue. Take your seat," Pistachio turns back to the front of the room. I slump down in my chair. This can't be good.

* * *

><p>T H R E E M O N T H S L A T E R<p>

I sit in the meditation room, pulling uncomfortably at my jacket. Instead of punishing me like usual three months ago, Pistachio had threatened to expel me if he caught me without my uniform-which he knew I hated. So now I was stuck in the bulky white hat, white jacket, white tights, black shoes, and blue dress for the rest of my education. This was not me.

Sorbet and Mokka don't say a word, thankfully. Mokka I know sees me fidgeting; Sorbet it so wrapped up in her meditation she probably hasn't even noticed that I've moved.

Suddenly, Pico and Chai come crashing into the room, looking like they'd lost the crown jewels. They seem to snap Sorbet out of her trance.

"Not here…" Pico grumbles. Sorbet tilts her head.

"What's the matter, you two?" She asks as they run up the stairs to us. I walk over beside her with Mokka, now thoroughly intrigued.

"We kinda lost Lassi…." Pico tries to sound casual. Chai scuffs his feet against the floor. "I dunno what got into her. She started talkin' about how she was going to go into space or something."

"Space? What gave her that idea?" Mokka cuts in.

"Well, she must think she can find Miss Madeleine on the wind planet, right?" Chai finally starts talking. "I mean, it's been three months since anyone's seen her…maybe she is in trouble and we need to help!"

Sorbet shakes her head. "We're all worried about Miss Madeleine. But how does she expect to get into space? Unless…"

"What, do you know something?" I demand, grabbing her shoulder. Lassi and Chai are the youngest of us all at thirteen, and I can't help but feel like a big sister to the both of them. Albeit a horrible role model.

"Mokka, you remember that trick the seniors play about there being a rocket ship hidden in the school?" Sorbet smirks. I don't want to remember that prank. That had been my first fight at Will-O'-Wisp. I also won, but that's beside the point.

"Yeah…" He sounds hesitant to remember as well. I sort of dragged him into helping me fight the seniors when they jumped out at me in the necromancy lab. "That was really funny."

"Wait a second! Do you think she's trying to find the rocket?" Pico finally catches on. "Chai, do you think it exists? We gotta find it!"

They go running out. Sorbet shakes her head again, mumbling something about how they were helpless by themselves and goes after them. That leaves me and Mokka. We follow the others through the school and into the back corridor, up another stair case, and up a rickety metal latter. Inside the next room, Sorbet waits, staring at a large door. Being the girl that I am, I go up to it. To my surprise, it starts talking.

"You seek to open the door to the heavens?" It groans at me. I nod, awestruck. "I only grant access to those with great power."

I close my eyes and focus on the dark magic inside of me. It wells up, overwhelming. I can feel the room go pitch black. Even as power seeps out through me, I can feel my strength coming back to me.

When I open my eyes again, the door slowly opens. The three of us, in stunned silence, run through, and…up another ladder of sorts. Inside the next room are six rockets. Of course, Pico and Chai choose this moment to join us.

"Look at this place! Those pointy-pod things are rockets, right?" Pico yells, not really caring about any hearing damage to the rest of us.

"The rumors were true!" Chai squeals.

"I half-doubted Miss Madeleine was really going to Puffoon…now I guess she was serious; these are space rockets," Sorbet smiles.

I walk up to the main rocket. The next thing I know, it starts shaking. Actually, the whole room starts shaking, filling up with smoke. I swear again.

"Dammit, Lassi…" I whisper, falling to the ground like the others. Duck and cover, right? Sure enough, things start flying. By the time I get up again and turn around, thinking it's safe, the roof is open. One of the rockets is missing. And I'm the only one conscious.

So I do what anyone would do: I say a good-bye to everyone, hope things work out for Sorbet and that Mokka gets that upgrade he wanted and that Chai eventually grows up and that Pico passes this year.

Then I get in the second rocket, pull a shiny red lever, and blast off from school, heading into the expanse of space. For a while, I can see Lassi's rocket ahead of me. Eventually, though, it fades from view as we go through a meteor belt and I start getting pummeled. One meteor hits the front of my rocket, and then everything goes black.


	2. Rough Landings

**A/N: This planet plus my rodent-sized attention span=this.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

_"And who can tell me what the name of the civilization that built the Kahve Ruins on Erd was?" My students all stare at me blankly, as if I'm speaking another language. I have taught them this, right? I'm not just assuming that they know? I mean, it's fairly common knowledge now. "Um, Jasmine?"_

_The little rabbit girl's head pops up from her doodles on her notebook paper. If she's anything like Lassi, it's full of hearts and swirls. And they look so much alike, this can't just be a coincidence._

_"Uh…um…the, uh, Espresso Civilization?" I'm shocked that she actually knows the answer. Her friends, sitting at the desks around her, are equally as surprised._

_"Very good. What was the name of the powering unit for the Ruins and what does it run on?" It feels really weird to be giving a lecture about the stuff that I discovered myself. Even weirder to be giving it to the class that could have been my very own._

_"Wind magic and the Land Where the Stars Sleep?" Again, she completely blows me away. I honestly didn't think anyone paid attention to the crazy, new teacher._

_"Very good again. Alright, continuing on with the lecture…" I rely on my own memory to guide me through my description of the planet, although its accuracy is questionable. After all, I was basically running on fumes then._

* * *

><p>The first thing that I'm aware of when I start to wake up is that it's <em>hot. <em>I really, really, really hate the sunlight. I mean, it goes with the whole "dark mage" territory, which also means that I burn easily. This is just ridiculous, though; I feel like my skin is on fire.

Then I remember that I got caught up in a meteor storm, my rocket got bashed, and I sit up really fast to try and check if I really am on fire. I'm not, thank goodness. I am, however, bleeding like there's no tomorrow from a huge gash in my arm and varying scratches all along the rest of my body.

"Where am I?" I don't know why I think out loud, but I do. I guess I'm hoping that someone will hear me and come running.

Sand flies into my eyes, swirling around me, effectively killing my visibility. I don't think I could even have seen my hand in front of my face, if my shoulder didn't hurt so bad. I'm leaning up against something cold and metal, so I turn to see it.

"Holy crap, I killed the rocket." It's now not even much of a rocket. More of scrap metal. Maybe not even good enough for that. My stomach drops down to my feet; I have no idea how I managed to survive the crash, but I did. Lassi…

I force myself up with my one good arm and start to limp across the sand. I don't have to go very far before I see a second crashed rocket, beside a very familiar body. And then I forget that I'm hurt and just start running.

"Lassi!" I kind of tumble down beside her, somehow managing to land on my knees. I start shaking her, and she moans. If I wasn't so afraid she was dying, I'd hug her.

"Wa-water…get the Kovo Water from the rocket…" She coughs, trying to point to her rocket. I push her arm back down and hope that I didn't just break it, before crawling to avoid getting more sand in my eyes. Her rocket is actually in better shape than mine, but we're still not going to get anywhere with it.

The water is easy to find, in a red tin marked "Emergency". I grab the thermos and crawl back over to her, forcing the thermos into her hands and making her drink some of it.

And Lassi, being Lassi, gulps it down and jumps up, before she stumbles. Apparently her problem is with her legs.

"I feel better!" She sings, smiling. She can barely stand up; does it really not hurt that badly? "Wait…Cookie? What are you doing here? And where are we? This is _not _the wind planet. Or Kovomaka…"

"I chase you in a rocket across the solar system and you don't even know where you landed?" I try to keep from yelling at her. Lassi's just flighty. I know she can't help it, but still.

"No…but we're going to be okay, because I've got you here to protect me now!" She flings her arms around me in a really, really painful hug. I try not to scream as she crushes my already-banged up shoulder.

"I never…agreed to that…" But she isn't listening to me, dragging me by my hand across to her rocket, chattering about how she hopes that it's okay. It's not.

"Aw, man! It's busted! And we're not on the wind planet! And we're nowhere near home! And we're lost in the middle of _space_!" She honestly looks like she's about to throw a toddler-worthy temper tantrum. "At least the Heal-O-Mat still works…"

"Heal? Please!" I limp forward, looking for the button she's talking about. It's bright, red, and labeled in child-friendly instructions: 'Heal-O-Matic'. I almost laugh and jamb my thumb into it.

Instantly, warmth spreads through me. The pain in my arms and legs vanishes. I rotate my shoulder, and it doesn't even hurt. All that's left of the huge cut in my arm is a thin little scar. _Yeah, I can live with that._

"Yay! I feel better! Now if we run into any, uh, space monsters…" Lassi's voice breaks. "We can just come back here and get healed!"

I don't really have the heart to tell her that as soon as the food runs out in our "emergency" kits, healing is going to be a moot point. "Yeah, exactly. Now let's get out of here and find out where exactly we are."

So we start wandering around in circles. Which is also kind of pointless. To the far south is a locked door that I can't climb (and Lassi won't let me try, either), so we head north. The sandstorm instantly picks up. That feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know something's a bad idea but it's the only one you've got?

"Hey Lassi…" I sigh. This didn't go so well the last time. "Try your wind magic here…just, don't turn it into a twister again, okay?"

She sticks her tongue out at me and starts to chant. I try to brace myself as the spell goes off. "Hear me wind! Hear my call! Dancing in the sky, shaping the clouds, whispering to the heavens…hear my plea and send your gale!"

I drop to the ground as the wind picks up, trying to shield my eyes. Lassi yelps beside me, and I pull her down too, trying to be heard. "It has to get worse before it'll get better!"

For once, though, I'm right. Just as suddenly as it started, all the wind stops. Amazed, we slowly stand. Lassi starts hopping around and cheering. She runs ahead of me.

"I did it! I actually did it! I made the sandstorm stop!" Well, she said it, not me. I run over to her, not wanting to get caught back up if the sandstorm does come back. She pats me on the shoulder, even though she's shorter. "Don't worry, Cookie! Your magic'll come in handy soon enough, I just know it!"

"Not if the sun never goes down…" I grumble, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't hear me. I'm drowned out by a loud rumbling that knocks us both down. "Oh, crap."

Which is probably the biggest understatement of the year. Some kind of ant lion pulls itself up from under the ground, barreling towards us. I grab Lassi and pull her out of range of his mouth.

"Lassi, help me fight here!" I shout. I'm pretty much useless during the day, and don't I remember something about earth being weak to wind? She's completely frozen, though, so I run out to distract the ant lion from her and I start trying to cast. Unfortunately, the only thing I can manage is a pitiful little box of shadows, but I hurl it at the monster anyway. "Shadow Die!"

It does not like that, not one bit. It's claw swipes into me, slamming me up against the rock wall. I drop back down into the sand, clutching my ribs. And I just got those healed, too.

"W-wind talon!" Lassi hurls her strongest spell (that we trust her with) at the creature now coming to eat me. It roars, and spins to her. Lassi screams and tries to dive out of its way.

Between the two of us, one acting as a distraction while the other casts, we somehow manage to kill the thing. I'm thoroughly exhausted; using dark magic during the day is…uncomfortable, to say the very least.

"Cookie, did you see how powerful you were?" Um, no? She keeps going anyway, clearly not seeing my face. "That was so cool! See, I told you that your magic would come in handy! That's gotta be what Miss Madeleine was talking about before she…left."

"Yeah. Now help me back to the heal thing," I order. Really, I'm pretty sure that stupid lion broke a rib. She runs over, and half drags me back down to her rocket. She pushes the button. Just like before, all my pain fades. Man, I love that thing. "Okay, let's go."

"G-go? Go where?" Lassi has to run to catch up to me. "What are you talking about?"

"There's got to be something on this planet besides desert and monsters," I shrug. I go up on tiptoes to go over the patch of land where the ant lion popped up; I guess some of my luck hasn't vanished, because it's brother doesn't pop up to eat us.

Up a hill from there…and my jaw hits the floor. A huge, metallic tower juts up from the surrounding sand. It's so completely out of place and ominous, I know this is what I was looking for.

Lassi speaks my thoughts. "What is _that_? It's huge!"

"Yup. We're going inside it," I walk up to the door. It doesn't have a handle. How do you open this stupid thing?

"Are you serious? We're going in there? That's so stupid…and dangerous…only you would think it's a good idea…" She whines.

"You want to wait out here for me?"  
>"I'm coming!"<p>

Giving up on looking for a handle, I just push the door. It slides open easily, and I gulp. I've always loved things that are dark and dangerous like this. Call me an adrenaline junkie. But this place…it even puts me on edge. We go inside anyways.

"It's dark…I'm kind of freaked out now…" Lassi whimpers, hiding behind me and grabbing my arm.

"Okay, sure, I'll go first." I roll my eyes and tiptoe forward. If anyone is in here, I really don't want them to hear us. Unless they're helpful and nice, but I really doubt that's the kind of person you'd find in this place.

Something clanks ahead of us. I throw my arms out to keep Lassi from walking ahead of me. Two robots, nothing like Mokka, step out. Their eyes (or visual sensors, or whatever) focus on me. I gulp. _Not good. Not good._

"Intruders detected. Initiating annihilation protocol." One of them monotones. I try to back up. Lassi's already run, not wasting anytime.

"C-Cookie…" She whispers, backing into me. I don't even have to turn around to know that this is bad. The robots in front of me come forward, trying to box me in.

"Lassi, just do what you did with the ant lion, okay? You're going to be oka-" One of the robots facing me decides to prove me wrong, by punching me in the stomach. "You…little…"

"Wind talon!" Lassi doesn't hesitate this time. I hear it slice through the metal of the robots that are on her side, followed shortly by a crash. "I did it, Cookie! I did it again!"

"That's…great!" I pull some of the darkness from around me, trying to get enough for another attack. "Shadow Die!"

I'm useless here, apparently. All my attack does is anger its target into rocket punching me into the wall again. Oh well, at least he's not focusing on Lassi. I can see her struggling to concentrate now; she's got the attention span of a bunny (well, goes with the territory, I guess), so two spells in short succession has never been her strong point.

"Shadow Die!" I try again, on the same robot. He fizzles and pops, but ultimately collapses, the light in his eye now gone. _Okay, one left._ There's another shout from Lassi, and a crash. _…Or not._

"What's up with this place?" Lassi shouts as I struggle to stand up, surrounded as I am by barrels of oil.

"Shhh. You're going to make more of them get here. Come on!" I grab her arm and run for the door in the back wall. This one has a button, and I push it again and again, like that'll make it open faster. When the doors do open, I groan; I hate elevators. But I don't have a choice, so I drag Lassi inside with me. I see another robot start to come out from hiding seconds before the doors close again.

I run out of the elevator as soon as I can, still pulling Lassi along. On the second floor (I guess it's the second floor…), there's nothing. No robots trying to kill us, and no hiding spots for them. Just a huge, broken, monitor. I completely ignore it and dash for the second set of doors, hoping it's not another elevator. When I push the button, my heart drops: it's an elevator.

"Um, Cookie?" I turn to look at Lassi. "This place is creepy…can we go back? Please?"

"Go back where? To the rockets?" I cross my arms and step into the elevator. She follows, still not wanting to be left alone. "We don't have anywhere to go to, Lassi."

"You're really brave. I guess I can keep going too…" She sighs. I feel kind of bad; she's too young for this stuff. I mean, she's barely even a teenager.

I don't have any time to feel too bad, though, because the doors open to yet another floor. This floor, though, has something really reassuring in the middle of it: a souped up version of our rockets from the academy. Lassi pushes past me and runs out of the elevator. I just shuffle along behind her.

"That's a rocket, right?" She's bouncing on the balls of her feet, grinning from ear to ear. I shake my head, laughing.

"What else is it going to be?" I answer, but she still isn't paying any attention to me. She just keeps talking.

"Why don't we borrow it and try to get to Puffoon? And by borrow, I mean…" Lassi trails off, twirling a piece of hair.

"You mean have me hotwire and steal it," I finish for her. She nods. Well, questionable decisions are my specialty. "Let's see what we can do."

We're pretty confident by now that there's no one here, so we walk right up the stairs to the rocket. But the minute I even touch the hull, four robots identical to the ones we already fought, peel off from the shadows of the wall and block the stairs-our only escape.

"Cookieee!" Lassi pulls on my jacket sleeve. I push her behind me, trying again for another attack. I'm still exhausted from the four already. _Really not my day…_ "Shadow-oof!"

One of those stupid rocket punches nails me in the stomach (again) and throws off my casting.

"Intruders detected. Run anti-spy ware utility." The leader robot orders. I'm pretty sure he's the one who punched me.

"Cookieeee! There's a-a…" I turn around to snap at Lassi, but then I see why she's freaking out and pulling on my sleeve again. A fifth robot has shown up, boxing us in between the four gray ones and himself.

He (do these guys even have women and men?) is a bright red. Electricity crackles on his fists. I've got a bad feeling that this is the 'anti-spy ware utility'. I push Lassi behind me again, not sure of which robot is worse to have her be in the direct line of fire for.

"Intruders detected." I get it, I'm an intruder. "Purge. Purge. Purge."

"Oh, crap…" I whisper, looking for a way out of this. To at least get Lassi out of it. But there isn't any exit; we're too closed in. The electricity around his fists gets stronger, and I gulp. I _hate _lightning.

"Electro-knuckles charged. Ready to fire." He rears back for a punch. I flinch and close my eyes. This is going to be a lot worse than the basic rocket-punches that have been beating me up. His eye visibly hones in on me. "Target acquired. Firing in t-minus…"

"Uh-oh…run for it!" Lassi yells. We don't get a chance. I put my arms out to block her, hopefully. I see the robot shoot his fist out at me. There's an intense pain in my stomach and then…nothing.

* * *

><p>I'm surprised that I wake up. I sit slowly, clutching my still-aching middle. I try to look around, despite the protests in my neck muscles. I'm lying on cold stone, with three walls of identical material around me. But right in front of me, is a huge pit. Filled with spikes. I groan, which brings a huge, three-eyed robot running to my cell. He glares at me with all three eyes, a look that very clearly says "don't try to do anything or I will blast you again". I hold my hands up innocently, and he resumes his pacing.<p>

I press my face into my knees and groan. "Mokka called it. I was always bound to wind up in jail."


	3. Not A Real Chapter

**A/N:**

Okay, I hate doing this. I just felt like I needed to post something here again.

So, I have a (possibly previously mentoned) stupidly short attention span when it comes to fanfiction. Which is why this has been dead for a stupidly long time. My problem was that I had this planned out so far in advanced (I've got it all in my head basically up to the endgame) that getting through the early stages was just irritating. I also didn't have the patience to play the game and write at the same time, so I was just watching a walkthrough on YouTube, and then my brain died from flipping tabs. And then I got just fixated on what the teacher-segment should be.

But! My point here (after a bunch of bad "excuses") is that I have started on the next chapter. It might possibly be extraordinarily long because I don't want to drag Erd out any longer than I have to (I'm going to try to keep the planets to two chapters each), but it should be up quite soon. It'll take the place of this update when I get it up. So I'm sorry if anybody's actually been waiting for this (don't know why you would)!

Oh, and to Turtlefish91 (if you're still reading), I was on the dA group for a bit. I literally posted one chapter of a fic and then went back to the corner of looking at the pretty artwork. xD

Okay, long enough update! Be back with a real chapter soon!


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